The Columbia Political Review is a student run non-partisan publication. The views represented here belong to their author and are not representative of the publication's political views or sympathies.

“Cuba and Puerto Rico are two wings of the same bird,” said the Puerto Rican poet Lola Rodríguez de Tió in her poem “A Cuba.” In 1895 these words echoed the close bonds and common heritage that the two island-nations shared and had shared for centuries.

Ideas and ideologies carry large weight, especially if one takes the Arab world in political context. As citizens of the twenty first century, we often overlook the cause of the Arab region’s political distress and tension that seems to be so ubiquitous.

By highlighting the frequency of significant tropical cyclones striking the New York City region, this article is not meant to reduce the importance of finding solutions as quickly as possible; rather, it is meant to heighten awareness of the special risk that New York City has always faced, but has never fully addressed.

One thing is certain: Pakistan is the only state even capable to promoting regional stability. Despite its political maneuvering and manipulation, Pakistan is the most important actor in the peace process.

Iraq lacks confidence. Irreversible changes have done more harm than good. New forms of violence may well continue in the future. Iraq’s security is mostly fragile without a concrete method to chase suspected perpetrators, and the result is ongoing civil war—a sort of no man’s land.

Fossil fuels are therefore necessary to our continued growth. They provide stability and performance where they are needed. We cannot live in a world where the well- being of humanity must be sacrificed.

Appointed in 2009 by the European Union’s then-26 heads of state (there will soon be 28), Van Rompuy is bound to their decisions – a degree of separation between his office and European public opinion that he insisted is good and necessary. But he also spoke of wrestling the Council, which must act unanimously, into consensus. “I’ve stayed in good shape for a man of 66,” he joked.

In the end, Syria will only be able to move on once Assad is gone. Most opposition fighters, extremist or moderate, refuse to consider a future in which Assad rules any part of Syria. Simply put: as long as Assad survives, war will persist. And as long as war persists, extremism will spread.

Rouhani’s positive language should be scrutinized and taken seriously if the United States wants to establish greater legitimacy when dealing with the Middle Eastern issues. This may be a fruitful time when the U.S. could achieve its national objectives by carefully inviting Iran through diplomatic means instead of using the power of coercion, which it already has but with no apparent success.

Despite the challenges posed by turbulence since 2011, the monarchy has stood its ground against democratic change, bided its time, and absorbed the punches delivered by regional tumult. Now, the torrent of the Arab Spring has blossomed into a “Saudi Summer” for the al-Saud.

Inherent to our national and cultural commitment to trial by jury is a commitment to the principle that personal liberty is such a valuable right that it is better to acquit someone who is in truth guilty than to wrongfully sentence an innocent.

Whether news related, literary, scientific, or otherwise, any category of speech has the potential to endanger someone. However, just because such ideas are potentially dangerous does not mean they should be censored.

Watching these events unfold, I was pleased to see the protests come out in force (easily the largest in the country’s history), and launch historic change in Egyptian politics. But as footage surfaced of tanks rolling down the streets, I couldn’t help but ask myself: was it the right kind of change?

The opposition, seeing that the government will fall if they don’t enter into dialogue with it, has steadfastly refused to settle for anything except its total overthrow, which, through their reticence, it would presumably precipitate.

The Columbia Political Review is a student run non-partisan publication. The views represented here belong to their author and are not representative of the publication's political views or sympathies.